MM TAX CLUB

Notification No. 38/2023 – Central Tax dated 4th August, 2023

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 164 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017), the Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, namely: —

1. Short title and commencement. -(1) These rules may be called the Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2023.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in these rules, they shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 9, in sub-rule (1), in the proviso, in the longline, the words “in the presence of the said person” shall be omitted.

3. In the said rules, in rule 10A, for the portion beginning with the words and figure “as soon as may be, but not later than forty-five days” and ending with the words “in order to comply with any other provision” the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“within a period of thirty days from the date of grant of registration, or before furnishing the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both under section 37 in FORM GSTR-1 or using invoice furnishing facility, whichever is earlier, furnish information with respect to details of bank account on the common portal”.

4. In the said rules, in rule 21A, –

(i) for sub-rule (2A), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:–

“(2A) Where,-

1. a comparison of the returns furnished by a registered person under section 39 with the details of outward supplies furnished in FORM GSTR-1 or the details of inward supplies derived based on the details of outward supplies furnished by his suppliers in their FORM GSTR-1, or such other analysis, as may be carried out on the recommendations of the Council, show that there are significant differences or anomalies indicating contravention of the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder, leading to cancellation of registration of the said person, or
2. there is a contravention of the provisions of rule 10A by the registered person,

the registration of such person shall be suspended and the said person shall be intimated in FORM GST REG-31, electronically, on the common portal, or by sending a communication to his e-mail address provided at the time of registration or as amended from time to time, highlighting the said differences, anomalies or non-compliances and asking him to explain, within a period of thirty days, as to why his registration shall not be cancelled.”;

(ii) in sub-rule (4), after second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: –

“Provided also that where the registration has been suspended under sub-rule (2A) for contravention of provisions of rule 10A and the registration has not already been cancelled by the proper officer under rule 22, the suspension of registration shall be deemed to be revoked upon compliance with the provisions of rule 10A.”.

5. In the said rules, in rule 23, in sub-rule (1), with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023,–

(a) for the part beginning with the words “within a period of thirty days” and ending with the words and figures “section 30”, the words “within a period of ninety days from the date of the service of the order of cancellation of registration” shall be substituted;

(b) in the first proviso, for the words “Provided that”, the following shall be substituted, namely: –

“Provided that such period may, on sufficient cause being shown, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, be extended by the Commissioner or an officer authorised by him in this behalf, not below the rank of Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner, as the case may be, for a further period not exceeding one hundred and eighty days:

Provided further that”;

3. in the second proviso, for the words “Provided further”, the words “ Provided also” shall be substituted.

6. In the said rules, for rule 25, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –

“25. Physical verification of business premises in certain cases. –

1. Where the proper officer is satisfied that the physical verification of the place of business of a person is required after the grant of registration, he may get such verification of the place of business done and the verification report along with the other documents, including photographs, shall be uploaded in FORM GST REG30 on the common portal within a period of fifteen working days following the date of such verification.
1.  
2. Where the physical verification of the place of business of a person is required before the grant of registration in the circumstances specified in the proviso to sub-rule (1) of rule 9, the proper officer shall get such verification of the place of business done and the verification report along with the other documents, including photographs, shall be uploaded in FORM GST REG-30 on the common portal at least five working days prior to the completion of the time period specified in the said proviso.”.

7. In the said rules, in rule 43, after sub-rule (5), –

(a) in Explanation 1, clause (c) shall be omitted;

(b) after Explanation 2, with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely: -

“Explanation 3:- For the purpose of rule 42 and this rule, the value of activities or transactions mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 8 of Schedule III of the Act which is required to be included in the value of exempt supplies under clause (b) of the Explanation to sub-section (3) of section 17 of the Act shall be the value of supply of goods from Duty Free Shops at arrival terminal in international airports to the incoming passengers.”

8. In the said rules, in rule 46, in clause (f), in the proviso, for the words “name and address of the recipient along with its PIN code and the name of the State and the said address shall be deemed to be the address on record of the recipient”, the following words “name of the state of the recipient and the same shall be deemed to be the address on record of the recipient” shall be substituted;

9. In the said rules, in rule 59, in sub-rule (6), after clause (d), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-

“(e) a registered person, to whom an intimation has been issued on the common portal under the provisions of sub-rule (1) of rule 88D in respect of a tax period or periods, shall not be allowed to furnish the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both under section 37 in FORM GSTR-1 or using the invoice furnishing facility for a subsequent tax period, unless he has either paid the amount equal to the excess input tax credit as specified in the said intimation or has furnished a reply explaining the reasons in respect of the amount of excess input tax credit that still remains to be paid, as required under the provisions of sub-rule (2) of rule 88D;

(f) a registered person shall not be allowed to furnish the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both under section 37 in FORM GSTR-1 or using the invoice furnishing facility, if he has not furnished the details of the bank account as per the provisions of rule 10A.”.

10. In the said rules, in rule 64, with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023, for the words “person in India other than”, the words “non-taxable online recipient referred to in section 14 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (13 of 2017) or to” shall be substituted.

11. In the said rules, in rule 67, in sub-rule (2), with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023, for the portion beginning with the words “The details” and ending with the words “suppliers”, the words “The details of tax collected at source under sub-section (1) of section 52 furnished by the operator under sub-rule (1) shall be made available electronically to each of the registered suppliers” shall be substituted.

12. In the said rules, after rule 88C, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

“88D. Manner of dealing with difference in input tax credit available in autogenerated statement containing the details of input tax credit and that availed in return.-

1. Where the amount of input tax credit availed by a registered person in the return for a tax period or periods furnished by him in FORM GSTR-3B exceeds the input tax credit available to such person in accordance with the auto-generated statement containing the details of input tax credit in FORM GSTR-2B in respect of the said tax period or periods, as the case may be, by such amount and such percentage, as may be recommended by the Council, the said registered person shall be intimated of such difference in Part A of FORM GST DRC-01C, electronically on the common portal, and a copy of such intimation shall also be sent to his e-mail address provided at the time of registration or as amended from time to time, highlighting the said difference and directing him to—

1. pay an amount equal to the excess input tax credit availed in the said FORM GSTR-3B, along with interest payable under section 50, through FORM GST DRC-03, or
2. explain the reasons for the aforesaid difference in input tax credit on the common portal,

within a period of seven days.

2. The registered person referred to sub-rule (1) shall, upon receipt of the intimation referred to in the said sub-rule, either,
   1. pay an amount equal to the excess input tax credit, as specified in Part A of FORM GST DRC-01C, fully or partially, along with interest payable under section 50, through FORM GST DRC-03 and furnish the details thereof in Part B of FORM GST DRC-01C, electronically on the common portal, or
   2. furnish a reply, electronically on the common portal, incorporating reasons in respect of the amount of excess input tax credit that has still remained to be paid, if any, in Part B of FORM GST DRC-01C,

within the period specified in the said sub-rule.

(3) Where any amount specified in the intimation referred to in sub-rule (1) remains to be paid within the period specified in the said sub-rule and where no explanation or reason is furnished by the registered person in default or where the explanation or reason furnished by such person is not found to be acceptable by the proper officer, the said amount shall be liable to be demanded in accordance with the provisions of section 73 or section 74, as the case may be.”.

13. In the said rules, in rule 89,-

(a) in sub-rule (1), in third proviso, for the words “in the last return required to be furnished by him” the words “only after the last return required to be furnished by him has been so furnished” shall be substituted;

(b) in sub-rule (2), in clause (k), after the words “payment of tax” the words “and interest, if any, or any other amount paid” shall be inserted.

14. In the said rules, rule 94 shall, with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023, be renumbered as sub-rule (1) and after the sub-rule as so renumbered, the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:-

                “(2) The following periods shall not be included in the period of delay under sub rule (1), namely:-

(a) any period of time beyond fifteen days of receipt of notice in FORM GST RFD08 under sub-rule (3) of rule 92, that the applicant takes to-

(i) furnish a reply in FORM GST RFD-09, or

(ii) submit additional documents or reply; and

3. any period of time taken either by the applicant for furnishing the correct details of the bank account to which the refund is to be credited or for validating the details of the bank account so furnished, where the amount of refund sanctioned could not be credited to the bank account furnished by the applicant.”.

15. In the said rules, in rule 96, in sub-rule (2), both the provisos shall be omitted.

16. In the said rules, in rule 108, in sub-rule (1), –

(a) for the words “either electronically or otherwise as may be notified by the Commissioner”, the word “electronically” shall be substituted;

(b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided that an appeal to the Appellate Authority may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-01, along with the relevant documents, only if-

1. the Commissioner has so notified, or
2. the same cannot be filed electronically due to non-availability of the decision or order to be appealed against on the common portal,

and in such case, a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.”.

17. In the said rules, in rule 109, in sub-rule (1),–

(a) for the words “either electronically or otherwise as may be notified by the Commissioner”, the word “electronically” shall be substituted;

(b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided that an appeal to the Appellate Authority may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-03, along with the relevant documents, only if-

1. the Commissioner has so notified, or
2. the same cannot be filed electronically due to non-availability of the decision or order to be appealed against on the common portal,

and in such case, a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.”.

18. In the said rules, after rule 138E, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

“138F. Information to be furnished in case of intra-State movement of gold, precious stones, etc. and generation of e-way bills thereof.-

(1) Where-

(a) a Commissioner of State tax or Union territory tax mandates furnishing of information regarding intra-State movement of goods specified against serial numbers 4 and 5 in the Annexure appended to sub-rule (14) of rule 138, in accordance with sub-rule (1) of rule 138F of the State or Union territory Goods and Services Tax Rules, and

(b) the consignment value of such goods exceeds such amount, not below rupees two lakhs, as may be notified by the Commissioner of State tax or Union territory tax, in consultation with the jurisdictional Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner of Central Tax, or any Commissioner of Central Tax authorised by him,

notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 138, every registered person who causes intra-State movement of such goods, -

1. in relation to a supply; or
2. for reasons other than supply; or
3. due to inward supply from an un-registered person,

shall, before the commencement of such movement within that State or Union territory, furnish information relating to such goods electronically, as specified in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01, against which a unique number shall be generated:

Provided that where the goods to be transported are supplied through an e-commerce operator or a courier agency, the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 may be furnished by such e-commerce operator or courier agency.

(2) The information as specified in PART B of FORM GST EWB-01 shall not be required to be furnished in respect of movement of goods referred to in the sub-rule (1) and after furnishing information in Part-A of FORM GST EWB-01 as specified in sub-rule (1), the e-way bill shall be generated in FORM GST EWB-01, electronically on the common portal.

(3) The information furnished in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 shall be made available to the registered supplier on the common portal who may utilize the same for furnishing the details in FORM GSTR-1.

(4) Where an e-way bill has been generated under this rule, but goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-waybill, the eway bill may be cancelled, electronically on the common portal, within twenty-four hours of generation of the e-way bill:

Provided that an e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, no e-way bill is required to be generated-

(a) where the goods are being transported from the customs port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs;

(b) where the goods are being transported-

(i) under customs bond from an inland container depot or a container freight station to a customs port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station, or from one customs station or customs port to another customs station or customs port, or

(ii) under customs supervision or under customs seal.

(6) The provisions of sub-rule (10), sub-rule (11) and sub-rule (12) of rule 138, rule 138A, rule 138B, rule 138C, rule 138D and rule 138E shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to an e-way bill generated under this rule.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the consignment value of goods shall be the value, determined in accordance with the provisions of section 15, declared in an invoice, a bill of supply or a delivery challan, as the case may be, issued in respect of the said consignment and also includes the central tax, State tax or Union territory tax charged in the document and shall exclude the value of exempt supply of goods where the invoice is issued in respect of both exempt and taxable supply of goods.”.

19. in the said rules, after rule 142A, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

“142B. Intimation of certain amounts liable to be recovered under section 79 of the Act.-(1) Where, in accordance with section 75 read with rule 88C, or otherwise, any amount of tax or interest has become recoverable under section 79 and the same has remained unpaid, the proper officer shall intimate, electronically on the common portal, the details of the said amount in FORM GST DRC-01D, directing the person in default to pay the said amount, along with applicable interest, or, as the case may the amount of interest, within seven days of the date of the said intimation and the said amount shall be posted in Part-II of Electronic Liability Register in FORM GST PMT-01.

3. The intimation referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be treated as the notice for recovery.
4. Where any amount of tax or interest specified in the intimation referred to in subrule (1) remains unpaid on the expiry of the period specified in the said intimation, the proper officer shall proceed to recover the amount that remains unpaid in accordance with the provisions of rule 143 or rule 144 or rule 145 or rule 146 or rule 147 or rule 155 or rule 156 or rule 157 or rule 160.”.

20. In the said rules, in rule 162, with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023, –

                (a) in sub-rule (3), the words “has cooperated in the proceedings before him and” shall be omitted;

(b) after sub-rule (3), the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:-

“(3A) The Commissioner shall determine the compounding amount under sub-rule (3) as per the Table below:-

Government launches a one-time settlement Scheme Vivad se Vishwas – II (Contractual Disputes) to effectively settle pending contractual disputes, as announced in the Union Budget 2023-24

Last date for submitting claims under the scheme is 31.10.2023

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has launched the scheme, “Vivad se Vishwas II – (Contractual Disputes), to effectively settle the pending contractual disputes of government and government undertakings. The scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 by the Union Finance Minister.

In Para 67 of the Union Budget speech, Union Finance Minister and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman had announced:-

“To settle contractual disputes of government and government undertakings, wherein arbitral award is under challenge in a court, a voluntary settlement scheme with standardized terms will be introduced. This will be done offering graded settlement terms depending on pendency level of the disputes”

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, had issued an order on 29.05.2023 indicating detailed guidelines of the scheme. The last date for submission of claims is 31.10.2023.

Cases satisfying the following criteria will be eligible for settlement under this scheme:

The scheme will apply to all domestic contractual disputes where one of the parties is either the Government of India or an organisation working under its control.

Under the scheme, for Court Awards passed on or before 30.04.2023 the settlement amount offered to the Contractor will be up to 85% of the net amount awarded/ upheld by the court.

For Arbitral Awards passed on or before 31.01.2023, the settlement amount offered is up to 65% of the net amount awarded.

GST Council recommends certain amendments in CGST Act 2017 and IGST Act 2017, including amendment in Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017, to provide clarity on taxation of supplies in casinos, horse racing and online gaming

GST Council also recommends inserting a specific provision in IGST Act, 2017 to provide for liability to pay GST on supplier located outside India supplying online money gaming to a person in India

GST Council recommends GST on valuation of supply of online gaming and actionable claims in casinos at entry level

The 51^st GST Council met under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman via video conferencing in New Delhi today. The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs (with legislature) and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance & States/ UTs.

The GST Council in the 50th meeting held on 11.07.2023 had deliberated on the Second Report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Casinos, Race Courses and Online Gaming and had recommended that the actionable claims supplied in Casinos, Horse racing and Online gaming may be taxed at the rate of 28% on full face value, irrespective of whether the activities are a game of skill or chance. The Council had also recommended that the law may be amended to provide clarity in the matter.

Accordingly, the GST Council in its 51st meeting recommended certain amendments in the CGST Act 2017 and IGST Act 2017, including amendment in Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017, to provide clarity on the taxation of supplies in casinos, horse racing and online gaming. The Council also recommended to insert a specific provision in IGST Act, 2017 to provide for liability to pay GST on the supply of online money gaming by a supplier located outside India to a person in India, for single registration in India for the said supplier through a simplified registration scheme and also for blocking of access by the public to any information generated, transmitted, received or hosted in any computer resource used for supply of online money gaming by such supplier in case of failure to comply with provisions of registration and payment of tax.

The Council also recommended that valuation of supply of online gaming and actionable claims in casinos may be done based on the amount paid or payable to or deposited with the supplier, by or on behalf of the player (excluding the amount entered into games/ bets out of winnings of previous games/ bets) and not on the total value of each bet placed. The Council recommended that CGST Rules, 2017 may be amended to insert specific provisions for valuation of supply of online gaming and supply of actionable claims in casino accordingly. The Council also recommended issuance of certain notifications/ amendment in notification related to the issue.

It was also decided by the Council that effort will be made to complete the process of making amendments in the Act at the earliest and bring the amendments into effect from 1st October 2023.

Note: The recommendations of the GST Council have been presented in this release containing major item of decisions in simple language for information of the stakeholders. The same would be given effect through the relevant circulars/ notifications/ law amendments which alone shall have the force of law.

The monthly average gross GST collection for the FYs 2021-22 & 2022-23 have shown 30% and 22% year on year growth respectively. This was stated by Union Minister for State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

The details of gross Goods and Services Tax collection on supply of goods and services (Domestic + Imports) for the FY 2020-21, 2021-22 & 2022-23 are as under:

(Rs. In crore)

The Minister further stated that GST is paid on self-assessment basis and tax administration at Central and State level is empowered to take action against cases where GST is not paid and short paid. Detection of such cases and recovery of taxes not paid or short paid is a continuous process.

Giving more details, the Minister stated that the Government, on the recommendations of the GST Council, has been bringing several reforms in GST. These measures would improve the GST compliance and increase the GST collection. These inter-alia include:-

1. Structural changes like calibration of GST rates for correcting inverted duty structure and pruning of exemptions;
2. Measures for improving tax compliance such as mandating e-way bill, ITC matching, mandating e-invoice, deployment of artificial intelligence and machine-based analytics, aadhaar authentication for registration, calibrated action on non-filers, stop filers, targeted assessment-based action on risky tax payer, integration of e-way bill with fast tag etc.
3. System based analytical tools and system generated red flag reports are being shared with Central as well as State Tax authorities to take action against tax evaders.

As recommended in 50^th GST council meeting, CBIC vide notification no. 33/2023 – Central Tax dated 31st July, 2023 notified “Account Aggregator” under GST.

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 158A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) and section 20 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (13 of 2017), the Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies “Account Aggregator” as the systems with which information may be shared by the common portal based on consent under Section 158A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017).

2. This notification shall come into force with effect from the 1st day of October, 2023.

Explanation: For the purpose of this notification, “Account Aggregator” means a non-financial banking company which undertakes the business of an Account Aggregator in accordance with the policy directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India under section 45JA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) and defined as such in the Non-Banking Financial Company - Account Aggregator (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016.